Words of Solace and Comfort to the Mourners

Thousands of years of our rich tradition provides us with direction during the difficult time of mourning. The accumulated wisdom of the ages is a source of great consolation.

Life After Death

A parable by Rabbi Y.M. Tukachinsky 

A set of twin brothers snuggled peacefully in the security and warmth of their mother’s womb.  One of them believed in life beyond the womb.  The other, a skeptic, could accept only what he perceived and experienced at the moment.

The believing brother spoke of life in a vast new world where man could see far and wide while standing erect.  A world of oceans, rivers, mountains, and valleys, all stretched beneath a starry sky.  And all that majesty was encompassed in a dense globe set spinning in a seemingly limitless universe.

A likely story, thought the other brother.  To him all of life began and ended in the womb.  He felt that when he left his little world, life would be over and he would sink into oblivion.

Amidst the heat of the debate, the faithful brother suddenly felt a fierce rumbling followed by a long series of severe quakes.  He was slowly slipping away.  After a final, violent jerk, the faithful brother disappeared.  The skeptical brother heard the cry of his twin, which to him spelled the last gasp of life, and bemoaned his brother’s tragic departure.  But outside the womb, at that very moment, joy and celebration filled the home of the newborn.

All  the world is a bridge, along which man moves from his mother’s womb to the womb of the earth.  Just as the embryo spends nine months in the womb before birth, our present existence is but an antechamber leading to an eternal world.

Miss me - but let me go

Author unknown

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no grieving in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free
Miss me a little – but not too long and not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss me – but let me go
For this is a journey that we all must take and each must go alone
It’s all a part of the Almighty’s plan
A step on the road to home
When you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds
Miss me – but let me go