By Dalya Eichler, Photographer and Staff Writer
The thing about living with Jewish values is that I don’t believe in chance. When something happens, minute or grand, it is planned by G-d. It isn’t an accident or stroke of luck, but exactly what was supposed to be.
When facing tragedy, it is human to look to G-d and ask, “Why?” Humanity tends to struggle with faith when there is destruction we cannot understand reasoning for. When there is so much hatred and torment, the ability to reason and find meaning is foggy. My father and I were discussing ideas for writing articles, and it was around the corner from my birthday: October 7.
The new September eleventh birthday that receives dropped jaws. My Hebrew birthday is the eleventh of Tishrei, which begins motzei Yom Kippur. I always held such meaning in that day because of the spiritual build up around it. Having this date as my birthday has always been extremely special for me. My English birthday is no different. Both days can be solemn and scary, but there is always room for a shift of perspective and a means of finding positive light even amidst darkness. My father then shared with me the most fascinating perspective, one that bridges opportunity with tragedy.
World War I began on 07.28.1914, World War II on 09.01.1939, and the war in Ukraine on 02.24.2022. When adding up all those numbers, each and every one adds up to the number 68. One can call that a coincidence, and a strange one at that, but as I said before, I don’t believe in those.
If you calculate the possibility of these large wars all adding up to number, the possibility is extremely slim. Read that again. What is the significance of the number 68? What does it mean within its context?
The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos 5:25 speaks of a ‘ben shishim ziknah,’ when a sixty year old attains old age. The word ‘zaken’ is made up of the words ‘zeh kanah,’ which means that a person has acquired wisdom. The number eight is widely known as a miraculous number representing someone who is above nature. What does this mean when put together, and what can we derive of its significance?
When we bridge the two ideas that represent these numbers we get Divine intervention linked to human peak wisdom. For each of those wars, G-d was concealed. People ask in tragedy, how can there be a G-d who allows this to happen? The question we should really be asking is how did we lack in doing our part in getting us where we need to be?
When we get to 60, we have the ability to bring forth or push away Divine intervention. There is still that space for the 8 to be used to our advantage. When reflecting on the tragedy of October 7, we can also focus on this time as an integral point that we can utilize to take positive action., and henceforth bring G-d into the world rather than push Him away. I’d like to think that the immense unity in the Jewish community that October 7 has brought was necessary. People have taken advantage of bringing G-d closer in extraordinary ways.
This year when I celebrated my birthday, I chose to compartmentalize. To honor those lost, to take a moment and grieve, and to celebrate life. To be grateful for my life, given to me on a day that I now choose to have even more gratitude on. I now have a holy and spiritual connection not only on the eleventh of Tishrei, which was always there, but on my English birthday as well. Celebrating life is so important on that day as well, because when there is tragedy, it is essential not to lose sight of the goal, the good morals, and the unity that is necessary to grow and flourish afterward.