{"id":31912,"date":"2013-04-24T21:19:17","date_gmt":"2013-04-24T21:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=31912"},"modified":"2013-04-25T22:59:23","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T22:59:23","slug":"shoshie-stern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/shoshie-stern\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoshie Stern"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"candles\"<\/a>The moment 12 year old Shoshie Stern\u2019s extended family heard about her tragic passing, they dropped everything and made their way to South Florida to be with their family.\u00a0 Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all descended upon the Stern home to cry and to lend a shoulder.<\/p>\n

Shoshie\u2019s recent birthday was certainly celebrated and marked by her immediate family, however a Bat Mitzvah party in her honor had not yet been planned. \u00a0Coordinating everyone\u2019s schedule proved a formidable challenge. \u00a0When this grandparent could come, the other couldn\u2019t be there. When this aunt and uncle were free, others already had commitments.<\/p>\n

At the Shiva, Shoshie\u2019s mom, Denise, looked around the room filled with family and friends and remarked to Yocheved, \u201cIt\u2019s such a shame, in the end everyone found a way to all be here together. \u00a0I only wish it was for a simcha.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whenever I am asked for advice about traveling to attend a family simcha when it is inconvenient, ill-timed, or expensive, I always say the same thing. \u00a0If it were a funeral would you find a way to go? \u00a0If we would drop what we are doing and make extraordinary efforts to be there for a tragedy, why not take those same measures to be there to celebrate a simcha? \u00a0Life is way too short, the future is too unknown. \u00a0Take advantage of every single opportunity to be with family in moments of joy before needing to be there for moments of grief and sadness.<\/p>\n

Shoshie\u2019s passing brought together our entire community with a sense of unity, the likes of which I have never felt. \u00a0Rabbi Rabovsky, Rabbi Gibber, and I worked closely and intensely to plan, coordinate and organize all that needed to be done. \u00a0The over-1,000 people in attendance came from all three Shuls. \u00a0The students who came that day attend a variety of different schools. \u00a0And for those few hours we stood together, members of an integrated and united community, undivided as one.<\/p>\n

Why does it take the death of a 12-year-old girl to bring us all together? \u00a0Surely there are events, programs, commemorations, or speakers for which we can gather even more people with a sense of unity and cohesiveness. \u00a0Why must it take tragedy to make us feel as one?<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the bombing at the Boston Marathon shook our entire nation. \u00a0As we watched fellow Americans mourn and grieve, we all felt their pain, identified with their fear, and associated with their anger. \u00a0All over social media people simply said, \u201cToday, we are all Bostonians.\u201d \u00a0Indeed, even the Red Sox arch rivals, the Yankees, hung a sign outside their stadium with the team logos side by side and the words \u201cUnited We Stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why should it take three deaths and hundreds of injuries for us to feel a sense of patriotism, wherever we may live? \u00a0Why should it take a city under siege for every American to feel a sense of kinship and affiliation with one another? \u00a0Why should it take graphic images of death and injury to feel a sense of empathy and concern for other human beings?<\/p>\n

When the bombs went off at the finish line, remarkably, there were people who ran towards the smoke instead of away from it in order to see how they could help. \u00a0In doing so they risked their lives not knowing if there would be any further explosions. \u00a0They did so instinctively and intuitively out of an incredible sense of wanting to help. \u00a0In another display of resolve and determination, there were individuals who, after completing the 26.2-mile marathon, ran another 2 miles to the hospital to donate blood.
\n<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

The Ramban writes that the purpose of a nisayon, a test, is to help bring our latent potential into reality (ko\u2019ach el ha\u2019poel). \u00a0When backed into a corner, pressed against the wall or in a terrible bind, we find capacity that we had never fully realized before and may not have even known we have. \u00a0Just last week in Oregon, two teenage girls saved their father\u2019s life when they lifted a 3,000-pound tractor off their father\u2019s chest. \u00a0If asked to lift a tenth of that, they likely would say it\u2019s impossible. \u00a0However, when faced with no other option, they discovered strength they never knew they had.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not wait for another tragedy. \u00a0Let\u2019s not wait for a family funeral to travel, when we could see our family at the next simcha. \u00a0Let\u2019s commit to come together as a greater community with a sense of unity, for no other reason than simply because we should. \u00a0Let\u2019s not wait to be tested in order to realize the strength that we\u2019ve had all along.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why does it take the death of a 12-year-old girl to bring us all together? Surely there are events, programs, commemorations, or speakers for which we can gather even more people with a sense of unity and cohesiveness. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":733,"featured_media":31913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nShoshie Stern - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/shoshie-stern\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shoshie Stern - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why does it take the death of a 12-year-old girl to bring us all together? 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