Yashlatz - In Memory

In Memory

Why do we remember?

Because that is who we are. Our memory grants us our place in life and guides the decisions which lead us forward. With it, we interpret our present, and build towards our future.

On May 21, 2012, a beautiful Sefer Torah was donated to the Yashlatz beit midrash by a Jerusalemite who chose to remain anonymous. Yashlatz students and faculty, guests, and families of the Eight celebrated the special event with the donor and the donor's son.

As the Nation of Israel, we are also full of memory. We tell the story of our heritage as we remember leaving Egypt, receiving the Torah, and what Amalek did to us. Our memory is the milieu in which we learn Torah and lead a Jewish lifestyle, and, as we are enjoined to remember the Shabbat and keep it holy, we cultivate Jewish unity not only across a generation, but throughout the generations.

G-d remembers us, as well:

"Then will I remember my covenant with Yaakov, and also my covenant with Yitzchak, and also my covenant with Avraham will I remember; and I will remember the Land." (Vayikra 26:42)

Remembering brings us forward, drawing us closer and closer to redemption.

Yashlatz, too, is infused with memory—the autobiography of every student and staff member, the collective Jewish memory that has developed over the course of 3000 years, and memories those who were at Yashlatz before us. Teachers, and especially students, move on. This collection of memory is all part of who we are and how we know where we are going.

We are commanded to remember Miriam's punishment for slandering Moses. G-d rebukes her, "... with [Moses] I speak face to face ... "

Moses' vision was crystal-clear. As a result, the Five Books of Moses are on a higher level than the other books of the Bible. By recalling Miriam's mistake, we appreciate the unique nature of Moses' prophesy and the utter reliability it grants Chumash.
(Olat Re'iyah vol. I, p. 334)

Some memories merit special recognition. Some of our friends, through death, have departed for good.

We need to take the time to remember and honor them, and also to honor our sadness at their departure, and our continued connection to them through our eternal souls. This memory takes effort, but through it, we find meaning and value in a transient world.

The light that the departed have left us both guides us, and also develops our yearning for a more perfect world. As we respond to this light, and make rembrance a vehicle of our actions, we develop ourselves to increase our own worthiness of the World to Come, and to bring a little bit of it into this world.

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